Sources: Blue Jays seeking alternatives to Pittsburgh

With the Toronto Blue Jays yet to receive approval from the state of Pennsylvania to play home games in Pittsburgh, the team is now looking at alternative options, including going to the city of each scheduled opponent and playing as the home team, sources told ESPN's Buster Olney on Wednesday.

The Blue Jays were looking to play the majority of their home games at PNC Park, but Major League Baseball has not received approval from the Pennsylvania governor's office despite being in communication, sources told ESPN.

Canada's government denied the Blue Jays' request to play at Rogers Centre in Toronto because the regular-season schedule would require frequent travel from the United States, where COVID-19 cases are surging. The other 29 major league teams plan to play the pandemic-shortened, 60-game season in their home ballparks, without fans.

Toronto begins the season at Tampa Bay on Friday.

The schedules for the Pirates and Blue Jays match up almost perfectly. Aside from July 29, they don't have a home game on the same date until Sept. 7. The Blue Jays are scheduled to host Washington -- where they play their previous series -- on July 29, but they theoretically could stay in Washington to play their scheduled two-game home series.

The Blue Jays play Sept. 1-2 in Miami and Sept. 3-6 in Boston. Instead of scheduled home games Sept. 7-9 against the Yankees -- when Pittsburgh is at home -- Toronto could go to New York and stay there for its scheduled home series Sept. 11-13 against the Mets. Road series against the Yankees and Phillies follow, and with Pittsburgh at home Sept. 21-24, the Blue Jays could play their next home series against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said he was excited about the PNC Park option, and Pirates manager Derek Shelton said he would have no problem with the Blue Jays moving in. Former Blue Jays executive Ben Cherington is the Pirates' general manager.

Baltimore also is under consideration as a possible host site, outfielder Randal Grichuk said Tuesday, as had the team's Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo, New York. Grichuk, however, said the players wanted to play in a major league stadium.

The team had been considering playing home games at its spring training facility in Dunedin, Florida, but Florida is among the states that are hot spots for the coronavirus.

Pirates president Travis Williams confirmed the talks with the Blue Jays on Monday and sounded ready to welcome the club if it could be done safely amid the pandemic.

ESPNs Jeff Passan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.